Dead. What the hell is going on this month? Fawcett, MJ and now that infomercial guy. He even had his own reality show in the Discovery Channel which was kind of cool. Not too sure how many people here heard of him or even know about him but, he was that really annoying guy on TV infomercials yelling at the camera about how super-awesome this product is and how he is going to let you steal it from him for only $40.00...NO....$19.95!!! RIP, guy.

Quote: Original post by Programmer One
What the hell is going on this month? Fawcett, MJ and now that infomercial guy.

I don't get this phenomenon... The daily GD.net did the same thing last week... 4 million people die each month, and yet people are surprised to see a few people they know of (not even people you know!) pass away in the same month? OOoooohhh scary!! Wots going onn1!?!?!?

Quote: Original post by Hodgman

Quote: Original post by Programmer One
What the hell is going on this month? Fawcett, MJ and now that infomercial guy.

I don't get this phenomenon... The daily GD.net did the same thing last week... 4 million people die each month, and yet people are surprised to see a few people they know of (not even people you know!) pass away in the same month? OOoooohhh scary!! Wots going onn1!?!?!?

It is a conspiracy. Duh. (I can tell by the pixels, etc).

Quote: Original post by Hodgman

Quote: Original post by Programmer One
What the hell is going on this month? Fawcett, MJ and now that infomercial guy.

I don't get this phenomenon... The daily GD.net did the same thing last week... 4 million people die each month, and yet people are surprised to see a few people they know of (not even people you know!) pass away in the same month? OOoooohhh scary!! Wots going onn1!?!?!?

Part of it is that Jackson & Mays were only 50 years old, and they were both sudden and unexpected deaths. Also, he left Ed McMahon off his list.

You also have to consider that these are high profile deaths. Celebrity deaths are like hearing your friend's friend died, not person X you never knew existed.

Quote: Original post by Hodgman
I don't get this phenomenon... The daily GD.net did the same thing last week... 4 million people die each month, and yet people are surprised to see a few people they know of (not even people you know!) pass away in the same month? OOoooohhh scary!! Wots going onn1!?!?!?

Really? You're really, actually surprised by this? Surprised that people are more interested in the lives and deaths of people they know of more so than the nameless, faceless deaths that are known to us merely as quantities? 4 million is a number, certainly, it is even a big number in comparison to smaller numbers, but guess what? 4 million never yelled at me to buy OxiClean, 4 million didn't sing Thriller, and I didn't think 4 million was a total babe when I was 13. Get real. Of course we care more about MJ and Farrah and, now, Billy Mays.

Quote: Original post by Samith

Quote: Original post by Hodgman
OOoooohhh scary!! Wots going onn1!?!?!?

Really? You're really, actually surprised by this? Surprised that people are more interested in the lives and deaths of people they know of more so than the nameless, faceless deaths that are known to us merely as quantities? 4 million is a number, certainly, it is even a big number in comparison to smaller numbers, but guess what? 4 million never yelled at me to buy OxiClean, 4 million didn't sing Thriller, and I didn't think 4 million was a total babe when I was 13. Get real. Of course we care more about MJ and Farrah and, now, Billy Mays.

When did I say I was surprised to see people care about people they know of? I know of this pop culture thing...

I'm not surprised that people care, I'm surprised that people are surprised when people die in the same time period:

Quote: Then Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both dying yesterday. Craaaazzy week.

Quote: What the hell is going on this month!?!?!?!?!!!oneoneone? Fawcett, MJ and now that infomercial guy.

You know if you get 22 people in a room with you, there's a 50/50 chance that you'll share your birthday with one of them.
Given the humongous number of people you know of, there's a pretty good chance that some of them will share the same death-month too.

Fair enough telling me to "get real" if you think I'm somehow disrespecting the dead, but it's a bit much going off like that over statistics.

If 2 or 3 famous people dying in the same day is weird, then let me blow your statistic-adverse mind with some other famous Americans who also died that day:
Don Coldsmith (author)
Morton Gottlieb (broadway producer)
James Baker Hall (poet)
John Giase (reporter)
Clifton Johnson (judge)
Sky Saxon (rock star)

[Edited by - Hodgman on June 29, 2009 7:01:04 AM]

Quote: Original post by Hodgman
You know if you get 22 people in a room with you, there's a 50/50 chance that you'll share your birthday with one of them.
Given the humongous number of people you know of, there's a pretty good chance that some of them will share the same death-month too.

Fair enough telling me to "get real" if you think I'm somehow disrespecting the dead, but it's a bit much going off like that over statistics.

If 2 or 3 famous people dying in the same day is weird, then let me blow your statistic-adverse mind with some other famous Americans who also died that day:
Don Coldsmith (author)
Morton Gottlieb (broadway producer)
James Baker Hall (poet)
John Giase (reporter)
Clifton Johnson (judge)
Sky Saxon (rock star)

I'm sorry, what makes you think any of these people are even half as famous as the others mentioned? All of these people you mentioned require an interest in something specific to know who they are. For example, nobody will know Coldsmith if they've never looked at western novels before.

And who is Giase and what is the Asbury Park Press that he edited? You're telling me you know the names of your newspaper's editors by heart, let alone some other city's newspaper? And aside from him the others were all in their 70/80s. Again people expect the old to die, but not the young.

Quote: Original post by HelplessFool
Again people expect the old to die, but not the young.

QFT

I saw that one documentary on CNBC that dicussed Mays' history. It's crazy because that was on, like, last month, or possibly this one. Man, he was cleaning up (monetarily), too. Who will take his place?

Just goes to show you how wrong the "die in threes" theory is. It's, like, up to five now, right?

Quote: Original post by shuma-gorath
Who will take his place?

This guy?